Senate Rejects Civil Liberties Amendments, Passes Spy Powers Bill

The Senate voted yesterday to expand the government’s wiretap authority and to protect telecommunications companies that participated in the administration’s surveillance program.

The House did not include telecommunications immunity in a similar wiretap bill it approved last year, the Associated Press reports.

The Senate voted after rejecting several amendments that would have added civil liberties protections to the surveillance program, the New York Times reports.

The administration-backed bill allows warrantless wiretaps of foreign-based communications on U.S. networks when overseas terrorists are targeted. A warrant would be required if the target is a U.S. citizen, the Los Angeles Times reports. A special intelligence court would review the wiretap procedures after the fact.